How Parramatta Eels hung onto young gun Tepai Moeroa despite lure of rugby and Olympics

PARRAMATTA’S Tepai Moeroa is the one that got away — but not from the Eels.This is not a story of blue and gold bumbling that has seen countless local stars go elsewhere over the past decade. Instead, Moerea’s journey to first grade is a rolled-gold blue print for patience and perseverance in junior rugby league development.Just 18, Moeroa will make his eighth NRL appearance in Newcastle on Saturday. For now, few beyond professional talent scouts and diehard Eels fans recognise him.But Parramatta officials have long known Moerea’s anonymity is on borrowed time. A month ago, the club secured him until the end of 2018 on a contract handsome enough for the shaggy-haired teenager to buy his family their first home in Australia, 14 difficult years after they migrated from the Cook Islands via Auckland.That’s a huge investment in a talent so raw and unproven. But what most don’t know is what the Eels have sacrificed to secure this prodigy from poachers of all persuasions.Despite being contracted to Parramatta since 2010, Moeroa has played relatively little league over the past four seasons. He spent them as a boarder at private schoolboy rugby powerhouse Newington College.Already six feet tall when he switched from league nursery St Pats Blacktown as a 13-year-old, Moerea’s bone-rattling defence and length-of-the-field tries made him an instant god in the exalted GPS competition. His feats — still strewn in amateur footage across YouTube — soon had Super Rugby franchises on the doorstep of the family’s rented three-bedroom townhouse in Mt Druitt.But Moeroa’s powers weren’t limited to the First XV. He also dominated GPS athletic carnivals in shot put and discus, setting records that many believe will never be surpassed. He added three straight titles at national junior competitions, which fuelled his desire to compete in the Olympics.And Parramatta sat back and waited. As the suitors continued to dangle riches and dreams, former Eels recruitment manager Peter Nolan played the long game.Knowing Moerea’s education was contingent on playing GPS rugby, Nolan agreed to restrict the kid’s game time in Harold Matthews and SG Ball to just 20 minutes per match.“They actually put a clock on him to ensure he wouldn’t burn out as a result of playing a full season of both league and union,” Moerea’s agent, Craig Baker, said. “Parramatta knew the union was non-negotiable and they went to great lengths to accommodate that. I’ve never seen or heard of an NRL club doing that for any player.”The Eels also covered treatment for injuries suffered in the rival code. So when the time came for Moerea and his mother, Paris, to survey their options, the choice was obvious.“In one way it was very difficult because he’s so passionate about all three (league, union and athletics),” Paris said. “Since he was 12 years old he always dreamed of going to the Olympics to compete in shot put and discus. I don’t know if he can ever do that now, but he does want to get back into training after this season and maybe keep that dream alive.“In the end, he wanted to go back to Parra and honour his deal because they had been so good to him. Because he played so much union at school, he sort of lost the passion for league over the past few years.“But he’s found it again this season, and that’s why he decided to sign-on for another three years. He didn’t want to do the wrong thing by them. If you are happy somewhere, you don’t leave.”That wasn’t the case in 1996, when Paris and her husband, Tepai Sr, left their village in the Cook Islands for a better life in New Zealand. Moeroa was nine months old, and had not even started school when the family moved again — to Sydney’s far west — in August 2000.From there his story is no more or less humble than those of thousands of underprivileged boys who view rugby league as their saviour. Unable to work because of an arm injury, Paris sometimes could not support her five children on a single income.The generosity of Moerea’s junior rugby coaches, who supplied petrol and shopping vouchers, rescued the family from the worst. But there were still no birthday or Christmas presents, not even any childhood photos.“The reason we don’t have any photographs of Tepai when he was little is because we couldn’t afford a camera,” Paris confessed.School fees were also a challenge for Paris, but hope beckoned when other parents told her the Penrith Junior Rugby League was offering Harold Matthews players financial help with their education. Until then, Moeroa had played in the Panthers district, for Rooty Hill Dragons, Colyton Colts and St Clair Comets.“When Tep was 13 and playing for St Clair I couldn’t work and we were really, really struggling,” she recalled. “I could hardly pay the school fees for St Pats Blacktown, and we knew of some other kids who’d been given scholarships by the Panthers. So I sent an email asking how I could go about applying. I didn’t want much — just some help with the school fees.“I pretty much got no response. I just thought, ‘Thank you very much, that’s made our decision much easier’. We moved him straight to Parramatta and we’ve never regretted a day since.”The key to Moeroa’s move was his coach at St Pats, Matt Dux, who also coached Seven Hills Kangaroos. He took Moerea on board and claimed three-straight premierships.“I’ve coached a lot of big kids, but not one this co-ordinated,” Dux said. “I didn’t need to teach him anything — particularly in defence. He just a brilliant natural technique for hitting blokes hard.”But the highlight from Moeroa’s junior footy is a simple act that typifies the essence of team sport from a primary school tournament, during which Moeroa scored a dozen tries in a day.“It should have been 13,” Paris said. “But there was a kid on Tepai’s team who only had one arm. When he got over the line he waited for that kid, passed him ball and let him score. At that moment, I was just so proud of my boy.”http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/how-parramatta-eels-hung-onto-young-gun-tepai-moeroa-despite-lure-of-rugby-and-olympics/story-fni3ga7r-1227041721554

"I agree our R+R is average but Ryles appears to be building the squad through juniors and a system based approach. Hopefully we can land a few players soon but with the roster he's got available he's doing a solid job. Work in progress but it's been…"

Replies

Ace Eel August 30, 2014 at 7:50am

What a great read...this kid also showed us how tough he is after getting belted by cheap shot king...
Mac5733 August 30, 2014 at 7:57am

Nathan Hindmarsh + Mark Bosnich = Tepai Moreoa
Bup August 30, 2014 at 8:10am

This is the type of person and player a strong culture can be built around. How good is the front office going lately. What a difference a year makes.
Craig Marshall August 30, 2014 at 8:42am

Great read.I think its interesting that when the media talk about the young guns in the NRL he doesn't get a mention.The pass he threw to Hayne(although we didn't score) on the last tackle against Manly had class written all over it
ParraLAD August 30, 2014 at 8:43am

I went to shool with this kid, he was quite a few years below me, but I remember sitting in the stands at athletic carnivals and watching this kid compete. It mentioned shotput and discus, but he was extremely quick over a short distance too. He used to blitz the 100m often competing at state level in that event. Tepai is a gem! Someone with his size and speed is rare to find. Great to see his loyalty to parra.
- parra supporter > ParraLAD August 30, 2014 at 9:15am
  
  At one point he was pushing for under 12 secs, also 6m in long jump and 14 in triple,
- ParraLAD > ParraLAD August 30, 2014 at 2:50pm
  
  Freak athlete
Stevo August 30, 2014 at 9:02am

Very good read, lucky Nolan was with parra at the time
Wild_Eels August 30, 2014 at 9:02am

Some credit should go to Peter Nolan
Alan Hunt August 30, 2014 at 9:09am

Great story!! This kid is going to be something special. and we have him locked up for the next four years.